Jo Nell Cook

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Jo Nell Ballard Cook, 90, of Winnsboro, passed away on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Winnsboro. Funeral service to celebrate her life will be on Sunday, July 20th at Beaty Funeral Home in Winnsboro beginning at 12:30 p.m. with Dr. Mark Edge officiating. The family will receive friends for a time of visitation on Sunday, July 20th from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Interment will follow at Lee Cemetery.

She was born on November 11, 1934, in Henderson County to the late James Buford Ballard and Mary Virginia Stegall Ballard. Jo Nell lived in Eustace, Texas, graduating as valedictorian of her high school class of 1953. She moved to Dallas and was employed by Employers Casualty Company and Bill Weatherford Insurance Agency.

Jo Nell married Kenneth Bryant Cook on December 9, 1955, and moved to Winnsboro in 1963.

Mrs. Cook was employed by Winnsboro ISD where she was the Elementary school secretary when she retired with 27 years of service. She was a member of the Church of Christ.

Jo Nell was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Kenneth Cook, brothers George Ballard and John Wayne Ballard, brothers in law James Smith and C.D. Ellison.

Survivors include sons Steven Cook and wife Stacy, Mark Cook and wife Leslie, David Cook and wife Krystal; grandchildren Meredith Ziegler and husband Stephen, Matthew Cook and wife Maddie, Katie Foster and husband Jake, Morgan Cook and wife Kate, Adam Cook and wife Amanda, Abigail Bottoms and husband Heath, Addyson Deleon and husband Mark; great-grandchildren Charlotte and Caroline Ziegler, Landry and Avery Jane Foster, Orin Cook, Judd and Jack Cook, Malachi, Maverick, Forest and Wesley Bottoms and Mateo Deleon. Sisters LaNova Ellison and Mary Smith; brothers James Ballard and Kenneth Ballard and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Camp Deer Run or The American Heart Association.